Boat Day
by creamsicle26
Summary: Once a year, the ladies of Konoha send boats with their names on them down a river. The receiver of said boat will be there "true" love. Will five lucky men get the girl of their dreams? -one shot- nxh sxs ixs sxt nxt


It was just a normal day in Konoha, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the morning flood of people were crowding there streets on there way to work. A young ninja, Choji Akimichi to be precise, was walking down one of the busy streets, snacking on his favorite after breakfast meal, barbeque flavored chips. He looked around and noticed that this day felt that it would be an especially good day.

'Ah' he thought 'today just cannot get any better. It even seems like the sky is bluer and the grass is greener and couples are holding hands…….wait…..'. Couples were indeed holding hands. In fact, there were so many couples holding hands that Choji has to mentally make sure that it was not White day. He racked every possible solution to why there were so many love birds out and about that it almost gave him a headache. As he was just about to head back home and get his bearings back, he heard a familiar voice.

'Oi! Choji!" cried Kiba Inuzuka, "Are you coming or what?" Choji walked closer to his friends and saw that there was a large group of them. Lee, Shino, and Kankuro were also with him.

"Coming to what? And why is Kankuro here?" Choji said somewhat dumbfounded.

"Aaaaaaah Choji, today is the annual Boat Day of Konoha!" said Lee who looked a little too excited for his own good.

"and I 'm here because Temari wanted to come and participate. She has her eye on a certain some one if you catch my drift," explained Kankuro, giving Choji a little nudge to show he was implying something, Choji obviously did not get it and looked like a deer staring into the head lights.

`"Choji, where have you been these last 25 years!?!" exclaimed Kiba. It was true, in all of the 25 years Choji had been alive, he had never heard of such an event. Though all five men had aged in a very handsome way, some of them were still as dense as when they were only 12.

"Today is Boat Day, a very special tradition known only in Konoha. Each year, the girls of the village write their names on paper boats and send them down the river. The men of the village gather around the river and try to collect a boat that passes by them. The name of the girl inside the boat is supposedly going to be the man's true love," explaines Shino in a calm demeanor.

"It never actually works, but it is still fun to see what name you get…….if you get a name at all….." said Kiba somewhat dejectedly. Of all the years he had been participating, he had never gotten a boat before someone else beat him to it. Most girls in the village already had a loved one and did not feel the need to participate.

"Ooooooh! That sounds like fun! Then what are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be down at the river?" asked Choji. Everyone except Lee looked at Choji as if her were an idiot.

"Of course, we just happened to cross you on our path and wondered if you wanted to come," said Lee.

"Sure, I don't see why not," agreed Choji " will the others be joining us?". By others, Choji meant Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto, Sai, and Neji. The five had been sent on a special mission three day prior and had still not returned. They also were 25, and each man could have easily had his own fan club, even Naruto. Girls could not help but glance over to them no matter where they went. Although it made the their friends jealous, they could not help respect them for their skill as ninja and their loyalty as friends.

"No, they are not back yet, but that means there are more chances for us to catch a boat!" exclaimed Kiba as he started heading down to the river to find the perfect spot. The others looked at each other and quickly followed him down the road.

They made it to the park far earlier than they needed to be, but to their chagrin they saw that the other young men in the village had the exact same idea as them. By they time they reached that park, their were barely any spots left that were relatively close to the bridge. Instead, they had to walk down almost a good half mile before they had a good clearing.

"Just think of it this way,' said Kiba "the fact that any boats make it down this far means that it truly has to be!"

" OOOOOOOOOH! I hope I get Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Lee, getting a little too excited again.

"You know it's a hopeless case, right Lee?" asked Choji. He only knew the predicament of the busy browed boy too well. He also had developed a small case on Ino, but he knew better than to let his feelings be known to the others. Also, much to his dismay, he knew that Ino had developed a liking for Sai, who had grown more comfortable around people after 10 years.

'Yeah, everyone knows that she and Sasuke are almost on the brink of dating," said Kankuro. He had known Sakura for a while now, and was informed often of their situation by his sister. Temari and Sakura had grown to be close friends and told each other everything. As for who he was hoping for, well, he didn't know any of the other girls well enough to care. He was just participating so that he had something to do that day.

"That does not mean that he has to give up hope!" Kiba chimed in. Not giving up hope had been the story of his life for the last four years. His relationship with Hinata had begun to grow into something much more, well at least to him. To Hinata, he was still just as close a friend to her as Shino was. Kiba new she still loved Naruto, and what made it worse was that the two were spending a lot more time together. In fact, it seemed that almost everyday the moments they spent together were getting increasingly longer. It drove Kiba insane!

"Hmmmmmmm……." pondered Shino. He knew of his friends predicament, but he also knew that Hinata was far more confident and would never let her relationship with Naruto die at this point. His friend was truly stuck in a hopless case. As for himself, well he did admire TenTen, and had even begun to think of her as a possible mate. However, she and Neji had been stealing glances at each other lately, and Shino could put two and two together.

"Kiba is right! I must never give up hope! I will wait patiently for her boast to pass by!" exclaimed Lee, now beginning to hop up and down a little.

"Lee calm down, the girls don't release their boats for another half hour," said Kankuro.

The boys spent the half hour catching up with each other and attempting to play a game or two with drastic results.

"Its going to happen soon I know it," said Kiba with a hopeful tone. The shot signaling the girls to release their boats would happen at any moment, and the all of the men were anticipating it. Although they were far off, they still had a clear few of the bridge, and were happy to see Sakura, Temari, Ino, Hinata, and TenTen all standing there with boats in hand.

"Any minute now…….." said Lee with a bead of sweat dripping down his face. To say he was nervous was an understatement.

"Hey does anyone want to get some more fo-" began Choji when all of the sudden, a shot was heard from down stream. The girls let their boats into the water and the men began to scramble to catch a boat on its way down. The men were almost glad they were so down stream when they saw the brawl that was taking place up stream. After what seemed like a good ten minutes, five boats were left floating gently down the river, right toward the five hopeful bachelors.

"Here they come men!" shouted Kiba as he dived to collect one. The other men followed in his action and grabbed the other four. They gave each other one last glance before peering at the name in their boat.

'TenTen…….?" thought Choji as he looked at the name. He had only worked with TenTen on one or two missions and had never really gotten to know her. He couldn't even conjure an accurate picture of her in his mind.

'What in the world……SAKURA!?!?' thought Kiba. If there was any kunoichi he would have wanted, Sakura was probably last on the list. If he wax anything like Naruto, which he knew he was, then was more likely to end in a coma of pain than one of peaceful bliss. He could just imagine what terror those punches must have inflicted on Naruto, or emotionally scarred him.

'Well that's odd…….Hinata……' Lee thought. Out of all the girls he knew, he probably knew Hinata the least. Not that he did not like her or anything, its just that the two of them had never actually spoken to each other outside of "hello" and "how are you?". Gai sensei always said that if you truly loved a girl, then you must have known her for quite some time. Hinata could not possibly be the girl for him.

'Ino? Why Ino?' Kankuro thought as he stared at his boat blankly. He had never met the girl, but he sure did hear a lot about her. Temari had also befriended her, but what she told him about her terrified him. Every time Temari mentioned Ino, it seemed as though the girl had more control over everything around her. She could even read minds for pete's sake! There was no way he was going to let some woman dig into his mind constantly.

'………………..'. Shino looked at the name on his boat, and sure enough it was Temari. He saw Temari when she had fought Shikamaru. She was very out going and loud, and probably the opposite of everything he was and thensome. She probably did not even like bugs. There was just no way.

The men gave each other a fleeting glance, and they all realized they had gotten horrible names.

"What do you say men, shall we send these down the river?" asked Kiba hopefully.

"Yes!" piped Choji

"Absolutly" cried Kankuro

"Most assuredly" stated Lee

"Yes please, " said Shino somewhat quietly.

The men placed the boats into the river and watched them drift off. There were very few men left on the bank, and the boats probably would not reach them for quite a while.

"Well that was a jip!" exclaimed Choji who was more than annoyed that he wasted precious snacking time for this.

"You think you are annoyed? I've been waiting 10 years to get a boat only to get one I don't even want!" Kiba said in a humph.

"Wait, look!" said Lee still looking in the direction of the boats. Just as the men looked over, five other men appeared from the shadows.

"Hey! Its Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai! What are they doing back so early!?!" said Kiba as he watched the men pick up the five boats they they had just sent back down the river. The five ninjas looked at the name on the boat, and a certain glow seemed to come about their faces. They were obviously over joyed at whose names that had gotten. They said a few inaudible words to each other and disappeared again.

"Where did they go now?" asked Lee.

"I don't know and I don't care……come one lets go get some pork or something…." said a very depressed Kiba. He turned to the bridge and froze. The other men turned to the bridge and looked almost sick to their stomach at the scene playing before them.

The only girls left on the bridge were none other than Hinata, Ino, Sakura, TenTen, and Temari. They looked down the rive thoughtfully waiting for their man to come and get them. It was tradition that once you got a name that you went and spent the rest of the day with the girl you had chosen. Suddenly, the five ninja that were formerly behind the five bachelors appeared behind the girls. Sai spun Ino around and kissed her full on the lips with a gentlemanly charm. Ino was surprised but was over joyed at who had gotten her boat and looked almost spell struck.

Temari was shocked when she was poked in the back by none other than Shikamaru and immediately smothered him in a huge hug. Of course, Shikamaru wanted more than that and pulled apart from their hug and kissed her gently, which she then proceeded to deepen.

TenTen felt a presence behind her and almost attacked him, when her attacker slyly grabbed her arm and gave her a cunning look. TenTen could only gape at Neji before he put her into a full embrace. Her weapon dropped from her hand and she slowly realized what was happening, and found herself deeply in bliss.

Sasuke tapped Sakura on the shoulder and found himself blushing slightly. Sakura turned around and looked as though she was about to cry. She could not believe that her one true love had actually gotten her boat. Sakura went to hug him, but she found herslf kissing him instead when Sasuke had "intervened".

Naruto slowly approached Hinata and put his hands over her eyes. She tensed but then realized who it was. He removed his hands and she spun around to see that Naruto was infact standing before her. She didn't know whether or not believe it, but it was certainly not a dream she wanted to wake up from. Naruto then kissed very timedly on the lips, but Hinata almost immedietly deepened it, knowing that this what she wanted for almost her whole life. Her face was very flushed, but she was not about to let that ruin the moment.

The five men down the river did not know what to do. All they could do was gape and feel extremely jealous. All except Kankuro, who was happy to see his sister finally kissing the man she had been fawning over for who knows long. The rest of the men however, slowly came to a realization.

"Hey, those guys picked up our boats right?" asked Kiba

"Yes, I did see them pick them up," said Lee.

"Then does that mean…….." began Choji

"That we had chosen those girls and could have traded for the girl we actually wanted," finished Shino.

They looked around at each other one last time before Kiba finally spoke up.

"That's it! I am going to the hot springs to calm down! Maybe I'll have a drink or something and maybe…….." Kiba exclaimed and then began rambling to himself and he walked off extremely annoyed.

"I think I will join you Kiba-kun," said Lee who looked like as if he had been stabbed through the heart.

"Me too," said Choji as he followed eating his chips at a very fast pace with a huge frown on his face.

"I believe I will join you as well," said Shino slightly crest fallen. Kankuro watched as the boys walked away from the river. He looked back at the lovers on the bridge and thought 'what has those guys so down?'


End file.
